Thursday, August 6, 2009

Have tools , will build

*"Have tools , will build ", things like this...

I am not a shiny new kind of girl , ok well sometimes but most times I am more of a how to get the look for less , much less kinda girl .

Two years after we had lived here in this house I had decided that our kitchen NEEDED an island a) I have always just liked the idea of an island and the look and b) we needed more cabinets to house food ,this kitchen did not have enough for the most normal amounts of stuff. So every now and again I would get out the painters tape and give it a test run on the floor and map out where the island would be and what shape , sometimes it had angles , so glad I decided against that and went with a simple rectangle.

These tape marks were meant to allure my husband ,then the house handy man , into building the island , well it never worked he did not show up with tools and wood in hand at all .

So after sketching many detailed drawings and watching many home shows I knew how to make a cabinet correctly , off I dragged the family to Home Depot to have sheets of MDF cut to the sizes I wanted , and we came home and we followed my instructions , which was a bit of a gamble , and we put together the island you see now .The DIY woman in me was born , I had tiled the backsplash but that was it for real projects until the island.

It was easy enough, all butt joints and MDF , pine boards for the top with an applied edged moulding , ok I mitered that and the base trim work too .

We installed these Ikea doors .

I painted it a soft blue which I still love these many years later , 4 years. It has stood up very very well , and it stays here , this piece comes with the house.I frosted the glass in the doors until they were solid , I didn't like to see the boxes or mess.

I didn't want expensive base cabinets , I thought of doing it that way , but it would be costly , the two sheets of 1/2 inch MDF was $40.00 , the pine was $12.00 a board plus trims , it was a great deal .So many changes , you can see the range hood I started out with , the old appliances , old single lighting, it has come along way , I wish I had taken a real before picture to show you how much .

To make sure things were not too new looking we antiqued the island counter , we all did , with saws , chissels , chains , forks , we had a good old time bashing it up , Mason even helped then 7 yrs old.Now 4 years later the counter top looks salvaged and loved , like we had really found it that way , it has stood up very well , to kids , spills , electricians standing on it , you name it , I varathayne it every couple of years and touch up any big gouges with stain , but it is quite maintenance free.

This is the project that started my love for DIY , I had always done the painting & sewing etc but this started the hardcore I need my saw dust fix kinda passion.